


Catharsis

by crumplelush



Series: Family Values [1]
Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Young Avengers
Genre: Future Fic, Gen, Implied/Referenced Homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-11
Updated: 2014-11-11
Packaged: 2018-02-24 22:20:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2598536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crumplelush/pseuds/crumplelush
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Billy bumps into a familiar and unwelcome face in the supermarket.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Catharsis

**Author's Note:**

> This idea was based on a real life experience with former school bullies. So I wanted to see how Billy would react in this situation. Set approximately ten years after volume two.

Whistling to himself Billy browsed the aisles and wondered idly what to get for dinner tonight. He'd had a particularly good day at work and he knew that Teddy had an important deadline coming up so wanted to do something nice for his husband. Would steaks be overkill? Probably. Plus Sarah was unlikely to eat them. At four years old Sarah Kaplan-Altman was already as opinionated as her Papa and as stubborn as her Daddy. Billy was vaguely dreading her teenage years.  
  
He's startled out of his reverie when he bumps into another shopper. Literally. Their shopping carts clang together loudly and make Sarah jump from where she'd been sat in the little seat playing with Billy's phone. He looks up to apologise to the person he'd run into and his blood freezes.  
  
If anything John Kessler looks even more shocked to see him than Billy feels. His mouth is hanging open and he's frozen in position. Sarah is trying to turn round in her seat to see what her Papa is looking at, and Billy has what he thinks could be a wildly irrational urge to throw a force field around her and teleport Kessler far far away from his daughter. He's in public though so he doesn't do anything of the sort. He just puts one hand on Sarah's back and contents himself with the thought that Kessler is two shopping cart lengths away and Billy can send Sarah to Teddy before Kessler can get anywhere near her. And if he tries then Billy will wish him to the Arctic Circle in nothing but shorts and leave him there to freeze to death.  
  
"Kaplan? Billy? Is that you?" Kessler is saying and Billy's eyes narrow.  
  
"Yes, it's me" he says, tone clipped. He doesn't want a high school reunion in the dried goods aisle with his old tormentor. Luckily Sarah has lost interest in the proceedings and is once again destroying Billy's high score on Angry Birds.  
  
Billy's good mood has all but evaporated and he just wants to get home to his husband and curl up on the sofa while watching Frozen again. Well, OK, he doesn't _want_ to watch Frozen but it's Sarah's favourite film so he's learned to deal.  
  
Before he can say anything though a voice cuts through the crowd. "John? Where are- Oh there you are!"  
  
Billy watches in shock as a tall and rather attractive man comes jogging up behind Kessler and kisses him on the cheek while he slings a six pack of beer in the cart that Kessler has a vicelike grip on. The man turns to Billy with a rather expectant look on his face and Kessler clears his throat and mumbles out an introduction.  
  
"Um, this is my fiancé Ben. Ben, this is... someone I used to go to school with."  
  
"Pleased to meet you" Ben says enthusiastically, leaning forward to shake Billy's hand. If he thinks it strange that no name was offered he doesn't say anything. Billy for his part is still boggling but manages to pull himself together to shake Ben's hand and return the greeting.  
  
"Pleased to meet you!" Sarah exclaims from her seat, tipping her head back to peer at Ben upside down since she can't turn around enough to look at him normally.  
  
"Oh and is this your daughter? She's adorable!" Ben says, and Billy feels the swell of pride that he always gets whenever anyone compliments his family.  
  
"I'm Sarah" she says, flinging her hand over her head for Ben to shake, which he does while grinning at her. Satisfied with her handshake Sarah straightens up, much to Billy's relief - he's pretty sure only his hand on her back stopped Sarah from falling out entirely - and she turns back to her game again. Unfortunately she'd inherited Billy's short attention span and obsession with games. Although right now Billy was grateful for it.  
  
"So yes, I'm John's fiancé for my sins. We figured it was time we got married. While it would be lovely for John's parents to join us, we can't wait forever for them to accept us. We've been together since college."  
  
"Daddy and Papa have been together since school!" Sarah interjects without bothering to look up from the screen in her hands.  
  
"Sssh sweetie" Billy says absently, rubbing her back. Ben seems to be perfectly able to carry on a conversation by himself with just the odd sentence or two thrown in by Sarah, and he's completely oblivious to the silence emanating from the other two adults. Except then Kessler chooses to break his silence.  
  
"Ben, this is Billy. Billy Kaplan" Kessler says, and he must have told him about Billy because Ben's eyes go wide and he looks stunned.  
  
"Oh. _Oh!_ Um, I forgot to pick up the salmon, I'll run and get that now" he says and disappears before Billy can say anything.  
  
"So um. While you're here and seeing as I'm probably not going to get another chance I just want to say I'm sorry. I'm not asking you to forgive me, I know I don't deserve that, but I just wanted to let you know that I really am sorry. I was a jerk."  
  
Billy isn't entirely sure what to do with all of this information. Considering that Kessler is marrying a man he's obviously conquered his homophobia and his sense of complete shame is practically tangible. Billy can see Kessler's story as clear as if it were written in front of him. His parents not coming to the wedding meaning that they disapprove. Growing up in a homophobic household when being gay yourself must be incredibly difficult. Of course that doesn't excuse Kessler's actions but it does provide context.  
  
"It's OK" he finds himself saying and Kessler's head snaps up. "I can't say that I forgive you, I don't know if I'm there yet. But I can tell you that I understand and that I don't hate you."  
  
"Really?" Kessler queries and Billy nods.  
  
"Yeah. You've obviously moved on and you deserve that. Ben seems like a nice guy, I hope you're happy together."  
  
"Yeah he is. He puts up with all my shit" Kessler replies and he's got a grin on his face that Billy recognises from his own face when he's thinking about Teddy.  
  
"So go be happy. Don't worry about me. You didn't do any lasting damage. I'm married to the most wonderful man in existence, have a beautiful daughter, a great job and I'm happy."  
  
"Thank you. Seriously." Kessler says and he looks so happy that the little voice in the back of Billy's head that still wants to teleport him to live with penguins finally shuts up. He may still have his doubts, because years of violence don't get overwritten in a five minute supermarket conversation, but he doesn't want to stay angry at Kessler. It won't help anyone, least of all Billy. So he can do this. Be a good man.  
  
"Congratulations on your wedding John. I hope you have a wonderful life together" Billy says with all the sincerity he can muster, which turns out to be a surprising amount.  
  
"'Gradulations!" Sarah pipes up from where she's been half listening in the entire time. Among her other qualities she's also incurably nosy, which both her parents insist she gets from the other one. Kessler smiles and thanks Sarah and then he wheels his trolley round Billy and goes to find his fiancé.  
  
Billy looks into his empty trolley and sighs. He's not really in the mood to trawl up and down the aisles looking for food for tonight. Plus he'd probably just keep bumping into Kessler and it would be really awkward. So instead he just drags the trolley back to the store entrance to join its brethren and teleports to McDonalds. The food is terrible and nutritionally void but Teddy and Sarah both love it and he's in the mood for some crappy junk food.  
  
Sarah laughs delightedly and claps her hands when they materialise outside of the restaurant. She loves it when he does that, and he doesn't very often. When she spots where they are she smiles even wider and shouts in Billy's ear for chicken nuggets.  
  
Billy texts Teddy as he joins the queue so that the video will be all set by the time he gets home. A Big Mac and fries while watching Disney cartoons with a hyperactive four-year-old and even more exuberant 28-year-old might not be everyone's idea of a good time, but to Billy it's his idea of Heaven.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think. I'm crumplelush over on tumblr as well if you want to chat.


End file.
